Who was Aaron Swartz?
Why do we care?
What are the moral stakes, or ethical issues, associated with his situation?
Answer the above questions in a comment on this post, please. This should involve at least two paragraphs--at least one on who he was and why we care, including a link for reference, and at least one more on the moral stakes. First commenter: you're all set if you just follow the above instructions! Subsequent commenters: in addition to the above instructions, engage in some way with the ideas of the comments that preceded yours. Disagree, agree, build on the ideas, etc.
Please do this before we meet again--so, before Tuesday.
Good luck!
Aaron Swartz was the hacker that broke into MIT's JSTOR Network and The Library of Congress PACER system. He was a prolific hacker who helped found Reddit. Aaron was fluent in many programming languages, one of them including Python.
ReplyDeleteWe care about Aaron because he stood up for our digital rights as human beings and rallied for the end to an infamous proposed bill called "SOPA" or the Stop Online Piracy Act. This bill would have cut off many rights for U.S. citizens and caused an uproar if passed. Aaron and others helped push this bill aside and kill it for good.
I believe his sentencing was good for his situation, because each law you break deserves at least one year in prison. With that said, many of our Computer Laws are very Draconian. They are so outdated.
Aaron should not have broken into the servers and released the information publicly. This is people's personal information we're dealing with. Birth dates, SSNs, etc. Within the community, this is seen as Black Hat because he took information that wasn't his and made it publicly available, without alerting authorities of the vulnerability. People AND HIS FAMILY were blaming the American Justice system on his passing. This is WRONG! He had thoughts of suicide waaaay back in 2007 and I'm sure further back in time. Someone who did something as preposterous as hack into a system and not give the information to authorities needs to give himself thoughts as to what he/she has done. You have to be stronger as a person to prove your innocence as well as to prove yourself as a man. Aaron Swartz was a drone of a hacker, but not at all a human being.
Source: The Economist http://www.economist.com/news/obituary/21569674-aaron-swartz-computer-programmer-and-activist-committed-suicide-january-11th-aged-26-aaron
DeleteIf you mean “prolific hacker” in the sense that Aaron Swartz was a geeky, technology centered person who “hacked” on code, then I agree. Otherwise, I have to point out that Mr. Swartz was more programmer and pioneer than hacker. At the age of 14 he helped create the Really Simple Syndication (RSS) standard. While his status as a co-founder of the wildly popular news site Reddit is considered important, his release of the framework used to create the site is even more relevant. Web.py aimed to make web development easier. Ultimately I think a person should be measured by the breadth of their contributions, and I was very impressed to find that Mr. Swartz used his tech abilities in the art world
ReplyDeleteWhy do we care about this techno genius? Knowledge has always been power, but controlling the flow information is increasingly more important. I’m going to stop way short of using the word “hero”. I think this guy’s story has become just a little over blown. After pushing the legal limits by back dooring PACER, and downloading 20 million pages of documents he “locked the deadbolt on his door, lay down on the bed for a while and then called his mother.” The feds didn’t actually prosecute him for this one! Trouble started when he pushed the limits AGAIN by actually using physical and virtual hacks to open up access to JSTOR. Mr. Swartz’s cause of “open access to information” is vitally important in today’s society, but the way he went about things brought trouble on himself directly. History is littered with biographies of the brilliant but flawed, and I think we can safely add this one to the pile.
Sources:
New York Times
aaronsw.com
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteSwartz was an American computer programmer, writer, political organizer, and Internet activist, who was involved in the development of the web feed format RSS, the website framework web.py, and the social news site Reddit, in which he was an equal partner after a merger with his Infogami company. He also focused on sociology, civic awareness and activism. In 2010 he became a research fellow at Harvard University’s Safra Center for Ethics, directed by Lawrence Lessig. He founded the online group Demand Progress, known for its campaign against the Stop Online Piracy Act, and later worked with the activist groups Rootstrikers and Avaaz. He also was a contributing editor to The Baffler. He co-founded the “Demand Progress”, an advocacy group that organizes people online to take action by contacting Congress and other leaders, funding pressure tactics, and spreading the word about civil liberties, government reform, and other issues.
ReplyDeleteWhy do we care?
Man’s Ego and the quest for power and authority is a very big player in the unfolding of events the world over. This has led to the introduction of laws to control man and whatever he has to do. Why can’t we live in a free world without any laws? The problems with the criminal justice system and hacking laws in particular, can create depression in the tech world. The state piles up a lot of charges that make you freak out. The state has a lot of uncalled for authority. Many a time, issues are blown out of proportion. Why, when i am arrested for a hacking offense, other than being charged for one offense, i for example, end up being charged with 20 counts? Such issues end up leaving one traumatized, stigmatized, and or victimized for a case that would otherwise have been handled differently, costing you a lot in terms of money and time. If you do not have the money, then you either die of stress and depression, or you commit suicide. I have every reason to believe that Swartz committed suicide because of a combination of the factors above.
When I use steroids to win a competition, it’s only logical that if you think that you are better than me, then use them too, and challenge me to a competition, Other than pressing charges on me and bringing me down, when u can’t do what I can in the first place.
The state should keep to itself. It should not interfere with our lives. If I can successfully hack in your network system, then just be nice to me and invite me for a cup of coffee, because I will have shown you where the vulnerability in your system lies.
Why should we bring down people who only prove a point? Why why why?
I rest my case.
http://www.theatlanticwire.com/technology/2013/02/aaron-swartzs-girlfriend-convinced-depression-didnt-drive-him-suicide/61766/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aaron_Swartz
Aaron H. Swartz was an American computer programmer, hacker and Internet activist. He was knowledgeable in many programming languages, such as python, Perl and so forth. Swartz was involved in many establishment including the development of the web feed format RSS, the website framework web.py, and the social news site Reddit. Swartz also focused on sociology, civic awareness and activism. He founded the online group Demand Progress, known for its campaign against the Stop Online Piracy Act, which sought to combat Internet copyright violations.
ReplyDeleteHe was charged with wire fraud, computer fraud, unlawfully obtaining information from a protected computer and recklessly damaging a protected computer. He gained access and downloaded large number of article, file, and document from PACER, Public Access to Court Electronic Records, and JSTOR, a digital repository that archives content from journal articles, manuscripts, GIS systems, and scanned plant specimens and disseminates it online.
The sentence was just in my prospective. This case involve around files being downloaded without authorization, and distributed publicly. It is morally wrong and unlawful to take something that is not your, and distribute to others. PACER and JSTOR both contains large amount of information, some of which is confidential and often copyrighted. These information can include SSN, personal background, criminal record, and credit report, and others which author has the copyright. The results to these unauthorized distribute can lead to misuse, identity thefts and fraud.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aaron_Swartz
Swartz helped create rss, reddit and wikipedia. He sold his share of reddit and became a full time activist, hacktivist, whatever you wish to call it;he became a driving force behind the stop sopa movement. As a hacker he released much of the data being held by PACER. Many of the documents that were retrieved were riddled with privacy violations. They were audited for privacy infringement and submitted to federal judges.(http://www.fjc.gov/public/pdf.nsf/lookup/ssnctdoc.pdf/$file/ssnctdoc.pdf) PACER is an ironic acronym that stands for ***PUBLIC*** access to court electronic database. Despite the title of "public", anyone interested in accessing these records must register with the database and pay a fee to retrieve records.
ReplyDeleteIn reply to this, Hex- "Someone who did something as preposterous as hack into a system and not give the information to authorities needs to give himself thoughts as to what he/she has done. You have to be stronger as a person to prove your innocence as well as to prove yourself as a man. Aaron Swartz was a drone of a hacker, but not at all a human being."
To me this an altruistic act and badass act. He helped expose a flawed system. Also, LOL at the prove yourself as a man line. Also, why would you call this poor dead dude a drone? What he did would literally make him the opposite.
IF PERSON = MILLIONARE+HACKER+PROGRAMMER
{PERSON = BADASS}
ELSE
{PERSON = DRONE}
IMHO!
JSTOR is a collection of academic journals that Swartz tried to "liberate". Copyright is a complicated thing. Swartz was authorized to access these journals, but not to distribute them. I have ambivalent feelings towards this.
***PUBLIC*** access to court electronic RECORDS** database.
Deleteedit-typo.
I never heard anything about Aaron Swartz before someone told that Aaron was put on this 35 years trial by group of Anonymous. Aaron Swartz was downloading some files for them and was caught in order to have some power for FBI. After reading information from Wikipedia source I changed my opinion completely. Aaron Swartz was a genies in all ways such intellectual person and computer talented programmer. He was trying to achieve many areas in a short period that many people can't achieve for years. He was trying to bring his beliefs and ideas to the public and free Internet community. He was working as a contributor in different projects and he wanted to change the system of how Internet public access documents are freely available for us. Why he did this even the danger was always near him because he wanted some justice in his ideas and beliefs.
ReplyDeleteI would compare Aaron Swartz to a hactivist group Anonymous who was fist willing to open a fight with a church of Scientology. Aaron was one of them even he was not totally associated with this group in all aspects of computer hacking and how all these hacks were done but he was staying for his ideas and he was never trying to change his morals and principles. He believed that many scientific open sources should be available for the public and if someone does some work it should be done in proper way to avoid any confusion and mistakes. It was hard for him to fight against the system that combines layers, government laws and MIT. I would say I could not see any win from the beginning and the end was unpredictable. Aaron put his life on the table with the hope that someday his struggle will be awarded and some laws to change access to the public information will be reviewed and he did. Aaron Swartz will always remembered computer programmer, writer, political organizer and Internet activist.( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aaron_Swartz)
Aaron Swartz was many things, among which he was a programmer, a developer, an activist, an open source contributor, and a human. From a young age, he found himself fond of and adept with computers and the computing world. He is well known for contributions to Reddit, development of RSS technologies, his role in the halting the Internet censorship bills (SOPA, PIPA), his contributions to the W3C and to open source movement, his pursuit of free and open access to information, and lastly the unfortunate death that befell him recently.
ReplyDeleteWe care for multiple reasons. We care because he had beliefs, and he stood up for what he believed in. His beliefs were not selfish, because his goal was to make the Internet and the world a better place through the sharing and the ease of access to information. He contributed to the benefit of technology through programming, development and his ideologies. He didn't take no for an answer or submit to the bullying government, and has done what others have feared to do, even knowing that it was the right thing to do.
There are always two sides to every story. To those that feel that he was a thief and deserved what he got, it may be technically true, but it was the principle that I condone. Even if it is true that he was a thief, the punishment did not fit the crime in my opinion, especially given the fact that his crime was relatively harmless, and other more violent offenders get off with significantly less of a punishment. Lastly, no matter what anyone's views are, the loss of a human life is always tragic, especially when the life was lost in attempt to defend others against what was believed to be bullying and unethical behavior, and even more so given the fact that the one's doing the persecution were aware that loss of life was a possible outcome.
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/13/technology/aaron-swartz-internet-activist-dies-at-26.html?_r=0
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aaron_Swartz
http://www.aaronsw.com/
Aaron H. Swartz was an American computer programmer, writer, political organizer, and Internet activist.
ReplyDeleteSwartz was involved in the development of the web feed format RSS, the website framework web and the social news site Reddit, in which he was an equal partner after a merger with his Infogami company. Swartz also focused on sociology, civic awareness and activism. In 2010 he became a research fellow at Harvard University’s Safra Center for Ethics, directed by Lawrence Lessig.
We care because Swartz was a co-founder of Demand Progress, an advocacy group that organizes people online to “take action by contacting Congress and other leaders, funding pressure tactics, and spreading the word” about civil liberties, government reform, and other issues. his act was to mae the internet a little more private beacause the government are now taking control of the internet.
Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA)
Swartz in 2012 protesting against Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA)
Swartz was involved with a campaign to prevent the passing of the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA), which sought to combat Internet copyright violations but was criticized on the basis that it would have made it easier for the U.S. government to shut down web sites accused of violating copyright.
the ethical and moral issues was that he was charged of hacking into goverment system and retrieving potential informations. This is suppose to be a lesson for the government to know there was some kind of loop hole in their system and instead hire swartz to work with them . Talented kids like him always get in problem for discovering something new that can be helpful the state.
what the government did was like trying to put someone in jail for allegedly checking too many books out of the library.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aaron_Swartz
ReplyDeleteWho was Aaron Swartz?
ReplyDeleteAaron H. Swartz, was an American computer programmer, political organizer, and Internet activist. Swartz was involved in the development of the web feed format RSS,the website framework web.py, and the social news site Reddit.
On January 6, 2011, Swartz was arrested by federal authorities in connection with systematic downloading of academic journal articles from JSTOR.Swartz opposed JSTOR’s practice of compensating publishers, rather than authors, out of the fees it charges for access to articles. Swartz contended that JSTOR’s fees were limiting public access to academic work that was being supported by public funding.
Swartz was facing a potential conviction of 35 years and up to $1 million in fines for allegedly downloading thousands of scholarly articles from the online database JSTOR with a hidden computer connected to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's network.
Swartz was found dead in his Crown Heights, Brooklyn apartment On January 11, 2013
Why do we care?
Swarts was one of important person in development of internet, and involved with a campaign to prevent the passing of the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA).
What are the moral stakes, or ethical issues, associated with his situation?
As he just had violated JSTOR's terms of service and taken due to limit the amount of JSTOR that any user was permitted to download. Aaron exceeded those limits, the government charged. He therefore breached the implied contract he had with JSTOR. And therefore, the government insists, he was a felon.
Criminal justice system is not fair for him due to Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA), that is a crime result in fine and prison, but the law is too broad, it cover exceeding the limit. This acts of criminal justice system excess reason. It should be only access to unauthorized area or hacking to the protected or unauthorized access network will be crime.
This study case show the moral or ethical issues of the law and criminal justice system involve with computer crime.
Source:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aaron_Swartz#Stop_Online_Piracy_Act_.28SOPA.29
http://mashable.com/2013/02/05/aaron-swartz-girlfriend-why-he-died/
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteAaron Schwartz
ReplyDeleteWho was Aaron Swartz?
He was a 26 year old programmer/ hacker that was heavily involved in the development of Reddit. He contributed to many publications and and was an activist against online piracy. He killed himself on January first of this year, probably because he was facing potentially 30 years in prison for hacking an online academic journal. Although authorities say that he was offered a 6 month plea bargain.
Why do we care?
Well aside from this being a hacking class, we should take not of the clear consequences of using hacking for illegal purposes. While a lot of people do it, someone has to get caught, and someone has to suffer the consequences. He was clearly being made an example of and it seems that the authorities got the publicity that they wanted. Although I think that they got a little more than what they bargained for.
What are the moral stakes, or ethical issues, associated with his situation?
The moral issues behind this situation are as such: Is it morally reprehensible to hack into a institutions private network? Most people who were presented just that question, would say yes. Although what about the extenuating circumstances of this particular situation? Aaron felt that his actions were just in that he was stealing information that he shouldn’t have to steal in the first place. He felt that the information was being used improperly and for the profit of people he were not entitled to said profits.